Interesting Links for 14-12-2015

[andrewducker]

• Saudi Arabia: First woman councillor elected
  • women rights democracy
• Setting The Default - Why it's important to keep pushing at cultural boundaries
  • society norms
• The Myth of the Good Guy With the Gun
  • guns myths viaElfy
• What Really Happens When You Get Shot
  • guns
• Garfield. Minus Garfield. Minus Jon. Plus Jon Osterman (Dr Manhattan).
  • watchmen comic

Comments

[gonzo21]

The number of people shot to death last year in arguments not during the commission of a felony (1,759) dwarfs the number shot to death in gang violence (667) and the number shot to death in drug trafficking (298)-combined.

That says it all really, doesn't it.

[bart_calendar]

OK, I want to preface this by saying that I am in favor of gun control, but I do think the "shot to death in arguments" thing isn't the strongest statistic to use here.

I covered crime in New Jersey for 10 years and the vast majority of people I wrote about who were shot to death during arguments were shot because they were cheating on their partner and the partner flipped out, or they were fucking someone who had a partner and that partner freaked out.

What became very clear to me in those situations was that those people were shot simply because a gun was the deadliest thing at hand. When the people did not own a gun they still killed the other person, generally with a knife, baseball bat or, in believe it or not three cases, a ceremonial samurai sword.

Crime of passion people will always find a way to kill in the middle of a jealous rage.

[gonzo21]

It is somewhat easier to run away from a jealous lover with a knife or a sword than a jealous lover with a gun though, no?

[bart_calendar]

You would think so, but in my experience three things happen to negate that.

1. This generally happens when a husband walks in on his wife in bed with someone. He has heard obvious sex noises and has already grabbed gun, bat, sword, whatever and is prepared. Wife and lover have not heard him come in. They are in bed, fucking and distracted and by the time they notice the dude he's already plunging the knife or swinging the bat/sword and there is no time to get away.

2. People generally don't believe their partner will kill them so instead of running away if they have prep time, they instead stay and try to reason with them, which is a deadly mistake.

3. It's actually far easier to kill someone with a bat, knife or sword than with a gun. The most common type of household gun is a hand gun. Hand guns are insanely inaccurate. In most cases where people try to shoot their wife, husband or the person fucking their wife or husband they either wing them or miss entirely. However, knives, swords and bats are really accurate.

[bart_calendar]

I really don't understand flavored condoms. I've been a very lucky and slutty dude over the years and never once has a single person ever asked me to wear a condom when they went down on me.

I just asked three of my friends (one male, two female) who are professional escorts and all three of them say they have never asked a client to wear a condom when they went down on them and the dude says he has never had a client ask him to wear a condom when the customer wanted to blow him.

Who, exactly, are flavored condoms for?

[gonzo21]

Teenagers?

[bart_calendar]

But why? When I was a teenager the only reason we ever used condoms was pregnancy paranoia.

[gonzo21]

Novelty and giggle-factor.

[mlknchz]

The problem I have with the "myth of the good guy with a gun" is that every other scenario out there leaves people with ONE role to play; " helpless victim". They can't defend themselves, all they can do is try to flee; that's it.
Shooters don't attack police stations or other places where they KNOW there will be an immediate armed response. I think the example of 9/11 is telling. When the hijackers took over the planes, most people followed the "conventional wisdom" and offered no resistance. Those two planes were flown into the WTC. Afer the people on the other planes found out what was happening, they resisted. They still died, but the terrorists weren't able to do what they wanted to do. Since then, there hasn't been a hijacking of a US plane; anyone attempting it knows they'd be torn apart by the passengers.

I dunno....I just think the era of teaching passive acceptance to these sort of attacks needs to end.

[octopoid_horror]

Regardless of any comment on whether the best response to someone pulling a gun in a public space is for bystanders of debatable training to pull out their guns too, I'd be very interested to know whether these helpful armed bystanders in schools, malls, shops, offices or indeed people with guns for home defence have ensured that they're all using weapons and ammunition that won't penetrate any of the walls nearby. Which if they're just bystanders, they surely can't know. Even if you do believe that teachers with guns make pupils safer, you'd need to ensure all the walls in the school were thick enough and guns penetrating weakly enough not to go through a wall and end up in the next room.

[octopoid_horror]

Also the myth of The Good Guy With The Gun is what gun owners tell themselves. That's all it is, it's a petty little white knight fantasy so they can justify buying a sweet-ass gun (or to assuage their own anxiety). They want to believe they're the good guy in this myth, and they're not Man With Gun Accidentally Kills Family Member In Negligent Discharge, or Man With Gun Kills Self, or Man With Gun Shot By Mistake, or Man With Gun Shoots Girl Scout Selling Cookies Because He Panics When He Thinks She's A Burglar Outside, or Man With Gun Shoots Someone Because He's A Massive Racist And Scares Easily.

[octopoid_horror]

Also re guns - I would suggest you could argue that a lack of gun control encourages certain crimes